“I think Secretary Gates said it best: Veterans deserve a concierge-like treatment,” he said, in reference to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “I think the actual treatment they receive, medical treatment, is very good, but I’m not an expert. But I do know that the frustration is with bureaucracy, and so that’s what we should focus on, that’s what we should try to help people with.”

The general didn’t directly respond to a question as to whether VA Secretary Eric Shinseki should resign.

He reiterated that war changes soldiers and that they rely on the VA and federal government for help. “When someone goes to war, they come back different,” he said. “They don’t always come back damaged. Many people come back better, more resilient, more experienced. But everybody comes back a bit different.”

McChrystal was tapped by President Barack Obama to lead forces in Afghanistan in 2009. The president accepted his resignation a year later after a Rolling Stone article quoted the general and members of his staff criticizing members of the Obama administration.